We’ve decided to spend a couple of weeks in Paris this fall, and we’re bringing Chloe with us. I’ll be writing a series of posts about our trip; this one focuses on finding a dog-friendly apartment to rent. (We’ve enjoyed the hotels we’ve stayed in in Paris, but for a longer trip — anything, really, over just a few days — we recommend renting an apartment. It’s cheaper and way more fun.)

Given how open Parisians are to seeing dogs in restaurants and shops, I thought finding a dog-friendly apartment would be a piece of gâteau. In fact, it takes a little effort, even if you don’t (as we did) create trouble for yourself by insisting on staying on a favorite street in a favorite neighborhood.

We began by contacting the rental agencies we’ve rented from (or nearly rented from) in the past. If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll likely do a Google search for Paris rental apartments and end up with a list that includes the companies we’ve worked with, and a few more. Here are the pet policies for sixteen of Google’s favorite agencies (in alphabetical order). I’ll indicate which ones I’ve worked with, but you should research travelers’ reviews before you commit to any agency.

One suggestion: I recommend getting an apartment that is on the third floor (or second floor, if you’re British) or higher. Many apartments don’t have air-conditioning, and you may want to keep the windows open while you sleep. My sister-in-law lost a purse to a burglar who shinnied up to the open windows of our second-floor apartment during the night; when we reported the loss to the rental agency and the police, we learned that it was not an uncommon occurrence.

Casamundo (www.casamundo.co.uk) — British agency with worldwide rental properties. Select “France,” then “Paris/Île-de-France,” then “Paris,” and click on “Pet” under “Extras.” You’ll get a list of 60 properties.

Chez Vous (www.chezvous.com) — Apartments available if your dog is small. A dog-less (but otherwise intelligent and discriminating) friend uses Chez Vous for her Paris visits, and thinks well of the company.

Parisaddress (www.parisaddress.com) — A customer service representative told me that about half of their apartments are pet-friendly. He recommended that I give him a list of apartments I was interested in, and he would check with the owners.

Paris Attitude (www.parisattitude.com) — Some of the owners do allow pets. The customer service representative I corresponded with encouraged me to give her my preferred dates, budget and location, and she would help me find a pet-friendly apartment that fit my needs.

Paris for Rent and France for Rent (www.parisforrent.com and www.franceforrent.com) — A related pair of sites. Pets are officially not allowed, but because we had rented from them before, and because one of their owners has a dog and is willing (sometimes) to allow a dog in the off season, we were able to get permission for Chloe to come with us. Call, and expect to be turned down, but you may be happily surprised.

Parisian Home (www.parisianhome.com) — This company’s pet policy is that “pets are not allowed in any apartment, unless prior authorization has been obtained,” which suggests to me that it is possible to obtain prior authorization in at least some cases.

Paris Net (www.parisnet.com) — This seems to me not so much an agency as a kind of Craigslist for French apartment owners. You’ll need to raise the topic directly with the owners of the apartments you’re interested in.

Paristay.com (www.paristay.com) — Some properties have a dog symbol that has not been barred through, indicating that dogs are acceptable, but there is no obvious way to search for just dog-friendly properties. The company also does not encourage information-gathering calls or e-mails (they want to hear from you only after you have filled in a request form). Apparently, you’ll have to scroll through all of the choices in your desired location, and see which ones have the pets-OK symbol.

Rentapart.com (www.rentapart.com) — This company’s pet policy is as follows: “Pets are allowed but only with a prior written permission of us. You may be asked for additional deep cleaning service and security deposit.”

Have I missed your favorite agency? Let me know, and I’ll add it to the list. And stay tuned for the next installment of Chloe Goes to Paris!

16 comments

Did I mention that Amy and I love Paris?
Did I mention that Amy and I love Paris?
Did I mention that Amy and I love Paris?
Did I mention that Amy and I love Paris?
Did I mention that Amy and I love Paris?

As always Mary-Alice, this post was very informative and helpful – and would have saved me hours of research if written a few years ago! : )
I rented a studio apt through VRBO. All the apts on that site are independently owned so they all have different rules. We were in the Marais district which was a nice place to stay with our dog. My only advice would be to get the number of an English-speaking taxi service beforehand so that you can get to the train station/airport on time – not all taxis will allow dogs.

They do not indicate on their site which of their properties allows dogs, and when I spoke with Claudette, she suggested that people interested in renting contact her with their preferences regarding location, size, etc., and she would call her owners with properties meeting those preferences and find out if a dog would be welcome.

It’s an ungainly process, but I suggest you try it. If you can convince Claudette that your dog is small and well-trained, for example, you might (with luck) get her to plead your cause with her owners.

Thanks for compiling such a great list! I rented an apartment though a Centruy 21 agency for July/ August of this year– they accepted dogs, but the rental was appalling! I’m looking for a new apartment starting February through the end of the year and am looking forward to using your list! It really is far more difficult than I would have ever imagined, especially as I believe that French laws prohibit asking about pets, something like that…. Thank you again so much!

Thanks so much, Ashley! Like a grown-up, I am going to squash down my crazed jealousy over your spending a year — A YEAR — in Paris, and simply say how fabulous. (See how grown-up that was?!) Please do let me know which agency you end up using, and how it turns out for you and your pup. I’m also glad to hear about your Century 21 experience. Argh!

Hello! I don’t think you’re a bit crazy — it sounds like there are four of you traveling, so there’s plenty of under-seat space to put pups in, and Paris is a great joy with a dog. I’d follow up on the links in this post — they’re still good!

They are 35lbs each and won’t fit under the seat – thats my concern. We’ve never flown with dogs before – and don’t know how safe it is (or how stressful it will be on the dogs) to have them fly in crates in the pressurized baggage area. Do people with large show dogs travel frequently this way?

Ohhhh, now I get it. I understand your anxiety — but if I were you, I’d do it. Bad things do happen to some pets, but the odds are greatly in your favor, and you can improve them by taking a number of precautions (replacing your crate’s plastic thumbscrews with metal hardware, securing the door with releasable cable ties, etc.. etc.). With two dogs, and children, and a big relocation on your hands, I’d consider working with a pet relocation service. I’ve heard good things about http://www.petrelocation.com/frontpage/ — take a look! But separate from the process of getting them there, I’d totally do it. A year is a long time to be without your pets, they’ll have an awesome time, and the stress of flying is brief and soon recovered from.

Wanted to let you know about a couple of resources a reader pointed me to recently: One is NY Habitat (http://www.nyhabitat.com ) and the other is France-Voyage.com (http://www.france-voyage.com ), both of which have advanced search options that let you look for pet-friendly rentals. We’re making plans ourselves for a trip to Paris this fall, and found some good results though FlipKey (http://www.flipkey.com ) but ended up getting the biggest list from HomeAway — and that’s the site we ended up reserving a place on. Will let you know how it all went in November! (And thank you to Victoria, who had a great time in her NY Habitat rental with her two Shih-Tzus!)

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